XOF
XOF was a covert support unit for its CIA counterpart FOX during the 1960s. From the 1970s to 1984, it became Cipher's covert strike force.Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain , Kojima Productions (2015). Ocelot: No doubt about it. XOF... Cipher's covert strike force. Now they're taking orders from Skull Face.Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain , Kojima Productions (2015). Ocelot: That's an XOF soldier. Previously, XOF was made up mostly of American Vietnam vets, but these days they headhunt from Special forces units all over the world.Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain , Kojima Productions (2015). Kazuhira Miller: That's a member of XOF... Cipher's covert strike force. During this time, they were led by a heavily scarred assassin known by the codename of "Skull Face." The group's logo utilized an inverted image of the fox that was used by the (then defunct) FOX Unit. During the 1980s, missions of higher priority were assigned to their new special forces team called the Parasite Unit. History XOF was first created by Major Zero as an unconventional support unit to its CIA-counterpart, FOX, where members would secretly provide tactical support and field Intel to FOX Operatives during missions. Its overall purpose was to ensure the survival of FOX operatives in order for the unit to become a success by any means necessary. Zero appointed his XO, Skull Face, to be the commander of the elite black ops group. The existence of the unit was highly classified to the point where even the CIA and The Boss herself were unaware of its existence. The unit was first deployed in secret during the Virtuous Mission in 1964, where members of the unit provided support to Naked Snake. After the Virtuous Mission, Major Zero had Skull Face himself deployed in secret during Operation Snake Eater, where he was to follow, assist, and clean up after Naked Snake during the operation. He was even ordered to complete the mission himself if Snake had died fighting the Boss, his ruthlessness giving him an edge in fighting the Boss. After FOX was disbanded in 1972, Major Zero offered Skull Face and his unit to become a part of his new organization Cipher, turning the support unit into an elite covert strike force who took orders directly from Zero. XOF Trojan Horse Operation During 1975, a few months after the Peace Walker Incident, XOF were involved in the imprisonment of the former child soldier Chico at Camp Omega, prompting a rescue effort from Big Boss of the Militaires Sans Frontières. They had also detained the Cipher agent Paz Ortega Andrade, after a Belizean fisherman recovered her from sea, having held her for interrogation on behalf of her former employers.Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes demo, Kojima Productions (2012). Kazuhira Miller: Our 'friends' at Cipher suspect Paz could be a double agent. She’s being held for interrogation at a camp on the southern tip of Cuba. During their operations at the naval prison facility, the XOF were frequently stationed at the admin building.Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014). Marine: Those XOF guys... always hang around the admin building. Later XOF's commander, Skull Face, visited Chico at Camp Omega, and told him "Give my regards to your Boss, when you get home." Anticipating the arrival of Big Boss at Camp Omega, the group commenced their "Trojan Horse" operation; an assault on MSF's Mother Base, under the guise of a UN nuclear inspection, though Big Boss, Kazuhira Miller, Huey Emmerich, and one MSF soldier were able to escape. Around the time they departed for their "Trojan Horse" operation, the soldiers proceeded to remove their XOF patches and disposed of them to the wind, although nine managed to remain on the base (one landing among Big Boss's gear around the time he was scaling the cliff). The Marines also witnessed this, although they believed them to be leaves.Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014). Marine 1: When those choppers left, did you see them drop some stuff? // Marine 2: Yeah, looked like a bunch of leaves or something. // Marine 1: Right. // Marine 2: Yeah, I saw at least one of 'em land by the windsock. While undergoing their activities, XOF claimed to be a CIA-based unit. However, an undercover agent uncovered and likewise relayed to Big Boss that XOF was not actually aligned with the CIA at all. The Marines stationed at the base had no idea who XOF were but did have some suspicions about them.Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014). Marine 1: All quiet? Those new guys - you see their choppers? Who are they with? // Marine 2: Beats me, man. Green Berets... SEALs? // Marine 1: Those ain't no jarhead birds. I can tell you that. Some kind of paramilitary setup? // Marine 2: Well, some of the guys were saying... You know what? Best we just drop this, all right? // Marine 1: Uh, sure.Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014). Marine 1: All quiet? You know those choppers? I saw the marking on the side - "XOF." // Marine 2: "XOF"? That some kind of unit name? // Marine 2: Hell if I know. Maybe I saw it wrong. Any way, they're gone now. Guess we'll never find out.Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014). Marine 1: All quiet? I didn't get a good look, but their boss's face, man... // Marine 2: Yeah, you didn't need to get close to see that was no mask, either. // Marine 1: I tell you, I am glad they're outta here. It was like rubbing shoulders with dead men. // Marine 2: Yeah... Their boss, his crew... like phantoms, every last one.Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014). Marine 1: (Hey.) You hear about the special shifts guys have been pulling at the old prison area the past two weeks? // Marine 2: Yeah, some "high-value prisoners" or something. You get that duty and kiss your break time goodbye, man. My buddy was crying on my shoulder about it. // Marine 1 But that place has been dead for years. Now we got these I-don't-know-who's bringing in "enemy combatants" from stateside. // Marine 2: Right. And the CO is tearing his hair out. // Marine 1: Feel like I'm livin' in a prison, man.Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014). Marine 1: All quiet? What was that crew up to going back and forth between admin and the old prison area all the time? // Marine 2: (Yeah) One of the guys on gate duty was saying the same thing. They kept taking a prisoner with 'em... // Marine 1: And then they'd go down into the boiler room. // Marine 2: The area was off-limits while they did their questioning. Or "interrogation." // Marine 1: My buddy said he heard screams coming out... and music. // Marine 2: Music? That's some creepy shit.Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014). Marine 1: All quiet? They said to stay away from part of admin for now, right? // Marine 2: The boiler room. // Marine 1: Right. I hear they were doing some kind of questioning in there. // Marine 2: Questioning? // Marine 1: That "enemy combatant" in the prison area got taken down there every day.Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014). Marine 1: (Hey) You see that costume party those guys saluted to? // Marine 2: Yeah... Trench coat, and a ten gallon hat, and to top it off, that piece he's carrying is a sawed off old lever-action. Their CO's got style... for a bad guy in a western. // Marine 1: Nah man, he's just a Republican. // Marine 2: (And) Either way, he didn't look like no soldier to me. // Marine 1: And his bodyguards are all special forces ball-busting heavy operators. Last time I saw that, I was reading a comic book. // Marine 2: (Clicks tongue) I'm gonna have nightmares about this shit.Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014). Marine 1: (Yo!) I'm soaked to the bone. // Marine 2: Forecast says we got this until morning. // Marine 1: Looks like they're right - for once. Can you believe that crew taking their choppers out in this storm? It's pitch-black too. I knew they were crazy. // Marine 2: Either that, or they got some stone-cold rotorheads at the control. And they flew a tight formation - I guess they got a lot of trust. // Marine 1: Trust, my ass. You'd have to drag me onto one of those. // Marine 2: Yeah, no shit. 'The Phantom Pain' Hospital Raid In 1984, a detachment of the XOF was deployed into Cyprus for a search and destroy mission after learning the whereabouts of Big Boss. Their primary objective was to assassinate Big Boss by any means necessary, while their secondary objective was to eliminate all traces that they were there. Among the elite operatives involved in the operation was the elite XOF assassin Quiet. In addition, the psychic Tretij Rebenok and the demonic apparition of Colonel Volgin, now known as the "Man on Fire" arrived at the hospital shortly after XOF. Quiet was tasked with eliminating Big Boss upon locating him in the hospital, but was thwarted by interference from another patient in the ward. The rest of the XOF's forces were tasked with eliminating all the hospitals patients and work personnel. The appearance of Tretij Rebenok and the Man on Fire created complications for XOF, with the latter destroying a large amount of XOF's vehicles and troops in his wake, and ultimately resulting in helping facilitate Big Boss's escape from XOF during the chaos. While they failed their primary objective in eliminating Big Boss, the XOF suceeded in eliminating all traces of their involvement in the operation. After learning of the Man on Fire and Tretij Rebenok in this incident, Skull Face used his rage to direct Tretij Rebenok and in doing so gained control over the child himself and the Man on Fire. Operations in Afghanistan XOF continued to operate as Skull Face's personal strike force, furthering his grand scheme of "ethnic liberation" through various covert operations. It was during this time that Skull Face deployed the Parasite Unit for various missions of high priority. Eventually, XOF was tasked with taking over and guarding the secret Soviet research station OKB Zero, while Skull Face began his final preparations for unleashing the English strain of the vocal cord parasite. However, Venom Snake managed to evade the extensive XOF presence at the facility and make contact with Skull Face. XOF's mission was almost complete until Tretij Rebenok, acting under a new affinity, activated Metal Gear Sahelanthropus against Skull Face and his forces. In the ensuing chaos, with two XOF troops having to drag Skull Face to safety due to his being too shocked at the existence of someone with a higher lust for revenge against Snake than even himself or the Man on Fire to even attempt to evacuate the premises by himself, XOF received heavy causalties and lost their commander Skull Face. Despite this, XOF continued to exist, under new leadership, and their orders continued to arrive though the same channel as always.Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015). Kazuhira Miller (To Know Too Much debriefing): Those men hunting for the target were Soviet troops who were colluding with the XOF. After securing the north observation post and learning the target's location, XOF sent assassins to eliminate him. Skull Face had turned XOF into his personal army, but the organization continues to exist even after his death. According to the man you extracted, their orders came through the same channel as always But is Zero really able to give orders in his current state? Or is somebody else calling the shots for XOF? For Cipher? What the hell... ? At some point later, XOF hired a PF to steal parasite research from the Diamond Dogs, with their eventually placing them in two storage containers for XOF to retrieve them.Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015). Kazuhira Miller: Boss, research materials have been stolen from Code Talker's mansion. The materials were packed into two containers and hidden in the jungle southwest of the mansion. You have to recover those containers. The pick-up crew coming for those documents is none other than XOF. That's right - they're still active even after Skull Face's death. Now that he's no longer in charge, their original chain of command has been restored. Meaning if XOF gets those documents, Code Talker's research ends up in Cipher's hands. According to Code Talker, the research papers account for over 50 years of study. The problem is the vocal cord parasites. If the papers documenting that research fall into Cipher's hands, they'll take another long, hard look at them. The "ethnic cleaners" we thought were history will become a reality. America - Zero - will have a weapon far more powerful than any nuke. Even worse, if this knowledge were to leak... The world - humanity - can't be entrusted with this kind of power! Recover the containers before the enemy extraction choppers arrive. However, Diamond Dogs ultimately retrieved the research materials before XOF could successfully extract them by chopper. Kingdom of the Flies XOF were later redeployed into Central Africa after receiving Intel that Sahelanthropus was in the possession of a young Liquid Snake, then known as Eli, and his band of child soldiers. Their mission was to eliminate Eli and his forces and to retrieve Sahelthropus so that it could be under their control once more. Knowing the area was infested with the English strain parasite, the XOF wore hazmat suits to prevent themselfs from getting infected. During their search for Eli and his soldiers, many XOF soldiers fell victim to traps set by Eli and his child soldiers. After locating Eli and his soldiers, an XOF marksman attempted to snipe Eli while he was in Sahelanthropus' cockpit, only for Tretij Rebenok stop the marksman's bullet at the last minute, saving Eli. A full blown firefight ensued, with XOF pulling out after initially being overwhelmed by Sahelanthropus. While Venom Snake and the combined forces of Diamond Dogs fought against Eli's onslaught, the XOF began to hunt and gun down all of Eli's soldiers, making sure there were no witnesses. After Venom Snake defeated Eli, the remaining XOF forces moved back in to eliminate Eli and to take back the scattered remains of Sahelanthropus, only to be gunned down by Venom Snake. Former Members * Major Zero (Founder) * Skull Face (Executive Officer/Unit Commander) * Tretij Rebenok (Psychic) * The Man on Fire * Quiet (Assassin) * The SKULLS Parasite Unit * American Vietnam Veterans * Various other soldiers * XOF agent (Lamar Khaate Palace) Unit Functions Before 1972, the XOF's primary function was to covertly support all FOX operatives to ensure that they completed their missions. This included providing back up, field intel, and even cleaning up any substantial messes that FOX had caused in order to eliminate all traces that FOX was there. During missions, XOF operatives were not allowed to directly intervene with FOX missions, being ordered to observe from afar and keep track of an operative's mission status. After FOX was disbanded following the San Hieranymo revolt, Skull Face was recruited by Major Zero to join Cipher as the organization's chief enforcer, converting XOF from a support unit into an elite strike force, specializing in a wide array of operations which involved the use complete discretion with maximum effectiveness. They specialized in assassinations and all out assaults on enemy bases while keeping their existence secret from the rest of the world. Equipment During the events of 1975 and 1984, regular XOF soldiers wore: *Grey drab flight suits. *Olive drab combat boots. *Chest harness. *SPIE harness. *Ammo pouches *Butt packs. *Balaclava. *Ballistic helmet with a designation number painted on. *Eye protection goggles. *Headsets for communication. *Black brassard on the left arm with patches of their group's insignia, which they disposed of when about to infiltrate an area. The patches and logo for XOF is a color inversion of the FOX logo. They also wore white helmets with a blue stripe on them during the former. During the hospital raid in 1984, the XOF also wore yellow-tinted visors, predominantly black body armor, as well as oxygen tanks. These soldiers were armed with the following weapons: *AM D114 Pistol *AM Rifle Type 69 *Sz.-336 SMG *UN-ARC-PT *ALM 48 (Hospital Raid and Kingdom of the Flies only) *FB MR R-Launcher *GROM-II (Hospital Raid and Kingdom of the Flies only) *Hand grenade *Smoke grenade *Stun grenade They also had access to aircraft and vehicles, such as modified Blackhawks with retractable gears and refueling booms, APCs, Walker Gears, and jeeps. XOF was also seen to possess a Metal Gear called Sahelanthropus, which was located at OKB-Zero. Behind the scenes XOF first appeared in the PAX Prime 2012 demo for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (at the time simply titled as Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes). In both the VGA 2012 trailer for The Phantom Pain, and the GDC 2013 trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, there were soldiers shown attacking a hospital that utilize similar uniforms and equipment to XOF, although it was unclear at that time if they are the same group. The game confirms they are indeed XOF soldiers. In the demo shown at the Kojima Productions Los Angeles studio live opening, the XOF members, when disposing of their XOF badges, also released a FOX badge, with the player later finding it after interrogating a soldier about it. It was later confirmed that the XOF patches were indeed collectible in-game, and that collecting them all will unlock the extra op missions "Déjà Vu" and "Jamais Vu." In Jamais Vu, Raiden is offered payment in the form of XOF patches in exchange for having him wipe out the Body-Snatchers that took over the Cuban base, implying that XOF had been wiped out in this storyline. Collecting the XOF badges was referenced on the 12 Days of Metal Gear promotional event on the official Metal Gear Solid Facebook page leading up to the release of Ground Zeroes on Steam, acting as the equivalent of the lyric of "9 Ladies Dancing" from the namesake song "The Twelve Days of Christmas." If the player equips the MSF Sneaking Suit in The Phantom Pain, one may see an XOF badge near Snake's pack. It's in the same location of the one that the player has to roll around to get. Gallery File:XOF.png|XOF patch. Metal gear solid ground zeroes .jpg|Skull Face hiding XOF letters with UV light tecnology. Phantom pain gdc 2013 trailer.png MGSV-GZ--XOF-Art.jpg|XOF personnel art. artworks-metal-gear-solid-v-the-phantom-pain-033.jpg artworks-metal-gear-solid-v-the-phantom-pain-034.jpg 10733425 10152449609815986 7659167803363934954 o.jpg|"9 XOF Badges Collected" on 12 Days of Metal Gear. metal gear xof bonus mission 51 after the death of skull face st 84 was transported to mother base eli unleashed vocal cord parasites in one platform of mother base the stole st 84 he is infected with parasties too.png|XOF soldier shooting at Eli in Sahelanthropus. metal gear xof skull face.png|XOF soldier informing Skull Face about Huey Emmerich. metal gear skull face xof.png|XOF and Skull Face. metal gear xof soldiers boss.png metal gear xof and skullface.png|XOF and Skull Face. metal gear xof soldiers ecorting skullface.png|XOF. Notes and references Category:Groups Category:Military Groups Category:Patriots